For an upbeat start to the relaunched Twenty20 Blast, Yorkshire was probably not the best place to look. A fair proportion of the county of Hawke, Hutton and Boycott has now come to terms with coloured clothing and new-fangled slogging. However, the fact that they don't have floodlights at Headingley – at least on the cricket side of the Rugby Stand – or much of a budget for marketing meant that a 5.30pm start for the visit of Northamptonshire (who don't bring many) was always going to be a hard sell.

A dramatic defeat, secured by Graeme White when he smeared Ryan Sidebottom's penultimate ball through the covers but set up by an impressively mature innings from the England Under-19s wicketkeeper, Ben Duckett, did nothing to lift the local mood. Certainly the famously irascible Sidebottom did not look to have had a blast as he trudged off the field, dodging a single pitch invader from the stand formerly known as the Western Terrace which was mostly filled by students from Leeds Metropolitan University reflecting in traditionally tired and emotional style on the last day of their semester.

Yet even here, there was modest promise. The crowd of 5,417 was better than those for three of Yorkshire's five home T20 matches last season, and the county remain hopeful of boosting the average up towards five figures on the back of more marketable fixtures, such as the visit of Lancashire.

Aaron Finch, the Australian who is rated the world's best T20 batsman, could be here for their next home game against Derbyshire in a fortnight. Like several of the marquee signings for the rebranded competition, more lucrative commitments in the Indian Premier League meant he could not be here for the start.

The game itself was fiercely contested, and the victory will have reinforced Northamptonshire's love for the competition they won last year. They have emerged from a miserable start to the County Championship season in which they are bottom of Division One, while Yorkshire are top.

It is at the smaller counties without Test match grounds where T20 seems to deliver much more consistently. Perhaps it is the more intimate atmosphere of a venue like Northampton's Wantage Road, handy for the town centre and with a modest capacity of less than 6,000. It also helps that the town's rugby union club, Northampton Saints, are coming to the end of their season, whereas the rugby league's Rhinos have been attracting five-figure gates to Headingley throughout the summer for more than a decade.

Perhaps T20 is another area of the game in danger of witnessing a north-south divide. In the 11 seasons since the tournament was introduced in 2003, it has never been won by a county north of Leicester and seems to be a bigger hit for Surrey and Middlesex in London than for Lancashire or Yorkshire in Manchester or Leeds.

In this competition, as in so many other areas, Nottinghamshire seem to be showing the provincial Test grounds the way. They attracted a five-figure crowd for their televised home opener against Lancashire, generating a vibrant atmosphere at Trent Bridge, as Michael Lumb and Samit Patel each responded to their omission from England's T20 squad in the traditional manner. It was no accident that Sky chose to take their cameras to Nottingham rather than Headingley.

An opening attendance of 2,633 for Durham's game against the renamed Worcestershire Rapids must be a worry, although at least the Jets – who have also changed their suffix since last season, having dispensed with Dynamos – started well on the field. The championship captain Paul Collingwood relished his return to the ranks with a half century and three wickets as they cruised to a 29-run win.

Calum MacLeod, who impressed Collingwood sufficiently when he was coaching Scotland last winter to earn a trial and now a contract with Durham, hit an unbeaten 80 off 56 balls.

Elsewhere there was an opening win for Somerset against Gloucestershire, with half-centuries for Craig Kieswetter and Alviro Petersen, four wickets on debut for Dirk Nannes and three for the leg-spinner Max Waller.

Leicestershire, who were punching above their weight in this competition long before Northants staged last season's unlikely triumph, started well again by beating Derbyshire – the New Zealander Scott Styris receiving more support from his fellow Foxes for his unbeaten 63 than Derbyshire's Australian Marcus North did for a defiant 90 including six sixes that was pretty much a one-man stand.

Northants also had a fine contribution from an overseas debutant, the Kiwi seamer Ian Butler taking four wickets, before David Willey's 43 and an unbeaten 39 from 29 balls by young Duckett sealed the deal.